Fifty Shades of What If
by SiriusMarauderFan
Summary: Fifty one shots, each showing a different what if. Currently: Hermione dies in second year.
1. Jinx

**Author's Note:** Written for…

QLFC Daily Prophet Competition. Season 1, Round 9. Captain's task: What if Remus Lupin had bitten a student upon his transformation on the night Pettigrew escaped in PoA?

 **What If:** Remus bit Percy during PoA?

* * *

 **Jinx**

There had been a lot of times Ron had felt out of place in his life. It was a constant feeling when he was growing up – always second best compared to his brothers. He thought he'd finally found his niche at school. He'd helped to save lives; that had to be worth more than a prefect.

Maybe he'd gotten too cocky. He'd forgotten that he was only a schoolboy in hand-me-down robes, and now he was responsible for the destruction of his brother's life.

He should've known someone would come looking for him. There was a curfew for a reason, and he'd been with Harry and Hermione and things had gotten carried away. He didn't know Percy was in the forest when Lupin transformed, not until both brothers were lying side-by-side in the hospital wing.

And so they stayed for the whole night. Merlin only knew where Harry and Hermione had gone, but Ron stayed put with his broken leg, trying to block out the sound of his brother's moaning.

Madam Pomfrey said there was nothing they could do; the toxin had already entered his bloodstream and by the following night Percy's transformation would be complete.

"I'm sorry," Ron choked out after she'd gone. He wasn't sure if Percy could hear him. The prefect seemed to be between sleep and wakefulness. For a few moments he would be still and wide-eyed, as if seeing a monster. He would just as soon writhe and moan in his sleep.

"I'm sorry," he said again, wishing desperately that he was able to hold his brother's hand, to do _something_. But then, he'd already done enough.

It was his fault Percy was so close to death. His fault that Percy would miss school; that he wouldn't get to be Minister like he'd always dreamed.

He'd fooled everyone into believing he had potential, but now they'd all see … he was a jinx.


	2. Venomous

**Author's Note:** Written for…

Daily Weird Prompt Competition.

 **What If:** Hermione was killed by the basilisk in 2nd year.

* * *

 **Venomous**

The devastated look on McGonagall's face when she asked for the boys to follow had been enough to send Harry's mind whirling with horrible possibilities. The fact that they were headed to the infirmary didn't help matters.

Percy and Penelope were outside the door. She was crying loudly into his shoulder but looked up when they came close and ran to Harry.

"I'm so sorry. We were in the library, and she pulled me out. It-it was coming after us, and she distracted it so I could get away!" she blubbered. She rambled on even as Percy tried to pull her away and had to call for Pomfrey for help. Penelope still managed to force a crumpled piece of paper into Harry's hand.

"What's gotten into her?" Ron asked once the Ravenclaw had been escorted inside the infirmary.

"I'm afraid Miss Clearwater is in shock," McGonagall told them quietly. "She was attacked outside the library an hour ago. With Miss Granger."

"Is Hermione okay?" Harry asked, already knowing the answer.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter. She sacrificed herself for Miss Clearwater."

:-:

"It doesn't feel the same, does it?" Ron asked over breakfast. It was only their first morning back at school, but something just felt wrong, and it wasn't the dementors hanging around outside.

Harry nodded vaguely, moving his eggs around idly, staring at the blank seat in front of him. It was as if the entire house knew better than to try and take her seat.

"Lavender says her bed's gone," Ron was saying. "Can you imagine, coming back to school and someone – Dean, or Seamus – their bed's just _gone_?"

"What else are they going to do? It's not as if she's using it," Harry said crossly. He hated talking about her. It was bad enough he couldn't get her parents' faces out of his head from when they came to collect her body. Or Penelope's vacant stares … she hadn't come back this year, he noticed.

:-:

"Hermione would've known, I reckon," Ron said, and Harry nodded as he tried to hold back tears.

Sirius was upstairs, receiving the dementor's kiss, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

"She would've figured out what Lupin was, maybe even known how to stop all this." He shifted awkwardly on the hospital bed, wincing in pain as his broken leg was jostled. "I wish she was here sometimes. All the time."

"Me, too," Harry answered, and rolled over to face the wall. Nothing was the same without her. Not even his friendship with Ron.

:-:

He'd thought it was impossible to be any lonelier, but Ron never ceased to amaze him. Not even a month into the new school year and he'd lost the last friend he had – over _nothing_.

"Like I'd actually put my name in the cup," he said to Neville when the boy asked why he and Ron were no longer speaking. "As if I'm that desperate for notoriety."

Neville understood. He didn't try to defend Ron or suggest they try and patch things up, like Ginny had done.

"If you need help with the Tasks … er, I'm no good at anything, really," he'd said, but Harry felt grateful that he'd even offered.

"You're great at Herbology, I hear," Harry said. The least he could do was repay the favor. "Maybe we can study together. I'm alright at Defense."

Neville agreed at once, and that was how Harry Potter made a new best friend.

:-:

The papers had not been kind. Skeeter continued to write lies about Harry well after the Tournament ended and the war began. Worse were the things she'd said about Neville.

A tag-along. A fame-seeker. The Boy Who Wasn't.

Harry wanted to hex Skeeter into the next century, but the best he could do was assure Neville that he valued his friendship and skills.

:-:

The house the Advance Guard brought Harry to was decrepit and unfamilliar.

"My childhood home," Lupin told him.

Some of the Weasleys were there – Arthur and the two older boys. Molly and the others seemed to have stayed at home.

Neville and his Gran were there as well. Harry was pleased to have at least one person to talk to ease his fears of the impending hearing.

:-:

Their fifth year went by in a blur.

Occulumency was a failure, Umbridge was a constant thorn in Harry's side.

He and Neville took to practicing Defense in the Shrieking Shack twice a week or whenever they had a spare moment.

There was an attack on the Ministry at the end of the year. It was in all the papers, but Harry couldn't make much of what it meant.

Fudge was resigning. Umbridge was being removed from the school. Finally, the war was being acknowledged somewhat.

:-:

Dumbledore told him to keep the horcruxes a secret, but Harry wasn't interested in secrets anymore, not from Neville at least.

When the death eaters attacked and Harry was away, Neville was the one to lead the others into battle, training or no.

But no amount of rebellious students could keep Dumbledore from dying atop the Astronomy Tower.

"We need to end this," Harry told Neville as they left their sixth year.

:-:

They spent the first half of the summer apart, preparing for what they had to do.

When Harry was brought to the safe house, the Weasleys were suspiciously absent. Neville's Gran was there. She helped the boys to pack, gave them pointers, wished them well.

They left in the night with no idea what they were getting themselves into.

:-:

The locket was hard to find. Gran did most of the work, but it was Neville who talked Kreacher into handing it over and letting them stay for a night or two.

Neville was the one to take notice of the locket's prolonged effects on them and suggest taking turns with it.

The Snatchers found them not long after it was destroyed.

For all his fear of the woman who tortured his parents, Neville made a valiant effort at standing up to Bellatrix Lestrange as she pulled his friend away.

He still found himself locked in the cellar without Harry but sporting a swollen eye.

There were others with him, a goblin, Ollivander, and a blonde girl he recognized from around school. He was about to ask for her name when Dobby appeared with Harry by his side and took them all to Neville's Gran's house.

:-:

Luna, it turned out, was invaluable to their cause. After learning what Harry and Neville were up to, she refused to go home.

She offered to help sneak into Bellatrix's vault, and Harry was grateful that Augusta hadn't washed his clothes yet or the long black hair would've been lost.

Luna was also the one to suggest Ravenclaw's diadem.

It was time to return to Hogwarts.

:-:

The school was a wreck.

They found Ron holed up in the Room of Requirement, a place Harry had only been to a couple of times before.

"I've been here for days," Ron said, pointing to his hammock stationed in the corner. "The Carrows were going to kill me, or worse."

He wasn't looking too good with his right arm bandaged and fresh cuts and bruises on his face.

He managed to get ahold of Ginny, who collected all the others who had taken turns in fighting the Carrows: Dean, Seamus, Lavender, the Patils, people from other houses that Harry had never met or didn't remember. Strangers who were willing to fight alongside him.

:-:

The diadem was easy compared to what came next.

"I can do it," Neville assured Harry, pulling him away from the others. "I can kill Nagini."

Harry didn't want to leave him with such a monumental task, but he figured there was no other way. Voldemort was calling him to meet in the forest, and he needed to go.

"I'll be back," he promised weakly.

"We can do this, Harry. It's almost over."

:-:

The end was closer than either of them realized.

Harry felt himself being torn in two as he walked with Dumbledore through King's Cross. There was a strong pull to return to life; to Neville, who stood by him through so much; to Ron, who had become a hero.

But there was a different kind of pull from the opposite side, a desire to see all that he had lost: Hermione and Sirius and his parents.

In the end he would finish what he started.

The duel happened there, in the forest, witnessed by Hagrid and twenty death eaters.

The shock of the Dark Lord's death only lasted so long. Long enough, maybe, for Harry to run. But he was done running.

When the curse hit him, he fell with a smile on his face.

:-:

Neville waited outside the castle; the bloody body of a giant snake at his feet and the Gryffindor sword still clenched tightly in his hand.

His eyes kept scanning the edge of the forest, waiting for Harry's triumphant return. Ron joined him after some time, and they watched the dead being removed from the grounds until Hagrid ran from the forest with a hoard of death eaters chasing after him.

"You-Know-Who is dead!" he shouted.

Neville sank to the stone steps as Ron and the others ran to protect the defenseless giant.

If Harry had survived, he would be there, Neville was sure. Hagrid confirmed his suspicions moments later, and the world mourned the loss of their savior.

:-:

The train was beginning to pick up speed when Scorpius finally stumbled through the open doorway of a compartment and waved awkwardly at the two occupants.

"Can I sit here?" he asked. The dark-haired boy grinned in return.

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Scorpius Malfoy," he answered quietly, sitting across from the boy.

"I'm Harry Longbottom. And this-" he motioned beside him, to a redheaded girl, "is my friend, Hermione Weasley."

Hermione reached across the gap to shake Scorpius' hand. "You can be our friend too, if you want."

Scorpius smiled. "I'd like that, thanks."

* * *

 **A/N:** Things I didn't get around to mentioning…

In everything except the epilogue, if it's not mentioned that's because it stayed the same, more or less.

After his friendship with Harry crumbled, Ron got in with Dean and Seamus. Since Harry wasn't a permanent fixture in her life, Ginny got over her crush and by the time she got with Dean, there was nothing keeping her from having a serious relationship with him.

Post-war: Neville and Ron developed a friendship. Luna and Neville dated for a bit, but it didn't work out. Neville still became an auror for a while before taking up the position of Herbology Professor. Luna still married Rolf.

Fred lived. Remus lived. Tonks still died.

Next-Gen:

Neville and Hannah Longbottom – Harry Francis James, Lily Augusta Allison (to honor both his and Harry's families)

Ron and Lavender Weasley – Hermione, Parvati, Cedrella

Ginny and Dean Thomas – Imogene, Corbin, Roald


End file.
